Has anyone tried this method for making milk soap?

[Krisduff]

I've been experimenting with gm soap for a while now and add the lye to frozen/slushy gm. However, I read about a different method that a soap company uses where they add fresh goats milk to the melted oils. Once this has reached a butter-like consistency, they add the lye that has been dissolved in a little water. I really love their soap and would like to try making a batch this way. Has anyone used this method and what do you think? You can see their soap-making process here:

https://www.greatcanadiansoap.com/Articles.asp?ID=7

 

[Guest]

Probably not all oils mixed blended together with milk turn to "butter". The coconut butter they use may contribute to that.

This method may make it easier to keep the milk's temperature down during processing, since it's not added directly to the milk.

If you said you're using their soaps, what color do they have ? Is it brown, like in one of their picture, or yellowish, like another ? Do they contain colorants ? (clay, oxides, etc.)

 

[busymakinsoap!]

Hmm...the butter just seperates once the lye water is added which seems like a lot of 'fluffing' around for the same end result?!

I have added my milk to my oils and stick blended, I didnt get butter, but I did get my first and only case of seperation.
However, others on this forum do add milk to oils with great success.

Adding cocoa butter etc at trace is not beneficial, as the lye will eat whatever it likes, we cannot choose our superfat, unless we HP.

I do add my milk to my batch at trace after mixing my oils with a lye/minimum water solution. I would imagine the end result is the same as the link and a whole lot easier

 

[lsg]

I substitute cream for half the liquid, dissolve the lye in water and soap as usual, then add the cream at thin trace. This prevents scorching of the cream.

 

[KnowWhat]

I add my milk to the oils. I don't get a butter, its all liquid. Then I add a 50:50 lye:water solution. I've never had separation, or discoloration.

 

[Krisduff]

Probably not all oils mixed blended together with milk turn to "butter". The coconut butter they use may contribute to that.

This method may make it easier to keep the milk's temperature down during processing, since it's not added directly to the milk.

If you said you're using their soaps, what color do they have ? Is it brown, like in one of their picture, or yellowish, like another ? Do they contain colorants ? (clay, oxides, etc.)

All of their soaps have a natural colour that varies from brown to beige to cream. As far as I know, they don't add any colourants or clays to their soap. My husband and I bought some of their soaps last year while on vacation and I really loved them - very hard, very bubbly and non-drying. My husband still has some of his shaving bar and it's been a whole year - he shaves every second or third day!

I've had much success freezing my gm and adding lye slowly but I find it really time consuming and cumbersome. They say they use 26.5% gm - do you think that includes everything in their recipe or just the oils and milk? And for those of you that add your gm to either your oils or to your lye/oil mixture, is your gm room temp or refridgerator temp?

 

[IrishLass]

I add my GM to my oils all the time. It's actually my preferred way if making GM soap as I hate the whole slushy-frozen-direct-with-lye method. I just have no patience for it. Or much success either. Although many other soapers love the frozen/slushy method and do just fine with it, it's just not my cup of tea.

The other way that you are asking about (mixing the milk with the oils) is informally called the 'split method' around here. Basically how it works is this: the entire liquid amount for the batch is split up into 2 halves- one half is water that gets mixed with the lye, and the other half is goat milk (or your milk of choice) which gets mixed in with the melted oils. You can either add the milk to the oils before adding the lye solution or just after. I've never noticed it making all that much of a difference. Either way is fine. I've done it both ways with good success. I've also added the milk at room temp, fresh from the fridge (not the freezer), and warm- all with light, creamy colored results in my finished soap, even if they gel. The only exception to that is if I use honey in the batch or a discoloring FO.

I'm not sure what is meant by waiting for a 'butter-like consistancy' before adding the lye. My GM/Oil mixture (which has been stickblended to combine into a light, but cohesive batter) is still liquidy as oposed to buttery when I add my lye.

They say they use 26.5% gm - do you think that includes everything in their recipe or just the oils and milk?

I can't say for sure. That's something you'd have to ask them. What I can say is if they calculate things like I do, then it would just mean that 26.5 % of my liquid amount was GM. But that's just me and the way I do things.



IrishLass

 

[scouter139]

Interesting way to make goat's milk soap...never tried it before. I wonder if the oils they are using are starting to solidify again which would make the mixture thicker and more "buttery".

 

[Krisduff]

This is really bugging me. I can't figure out how they are using 26.5% goats milk in their recipe. I emailed them and we'll see what they reveal to me. What I can't figure out is that if they are adding milk to the oils and then adding a 50/50 lye/water solution (I'm assuming it must be 50/50 in order to dissolve the lye), then wouldn't that mean that they are using a really high percentage of liquid in their recipe (like over 50%)? And, if that's the case, wouldn't their bars be so full of liquid that they'd have to let it cure for a really long time? They say they cure 6-8 weeks. They use only fresh gm so they are not adding powdered gm to bring the milk % up. What am I missing? Did I mention this is really bugging me?